Gallup Poll Measures Beijing Residents' Support to Olympic Bid

The Gallup Research Co. Ltd. (China) probably cannot tell which city would host the 2008 Olympic Games but they can give a clear picture of how much backing Beijing's bid has received.

A Gallup poll of 1,626 Beijing residents in November showed that 94.9 percent of the Beijing residents, including suburb farmers or urban dwellers, threw their weight behind the Chinese capital's bid with 94 percent ready to serve as Olympic volunteers.

The result coincides with another polled by a domestic company in May which showed that 94.6% Beijing residents supported the bid.

Fang Xiaoguang, vice chairman of Gallup China, said that their poll, to which they applied Gallup methods and procedures, is the most appealing to the Beijing Olympic bidding committee for their "independent, objective and professional" approach.

"We were commissioned by the Beijing bidding committee but the survey was a commercial activity. We are not subject to any other interest groups and we performed in line with the principles of market economy," said Fang.

The company, a joint venture between the Gallup Organization of the United States and its Chinese partner, followed up in February with another survey, finding that Beijing residents' aspiration to play host to the sporting gala and readiness to become part of the Olympics remained as strong as ever.

"The two polls had the same questionnaire and almost the same percentage of people backed the bid," said Fang.

Among those questioned, senior residents showed stronger desire to see Beijing win the bid, wishing during the rest of their lifetime Beijing has the chance to secure the Games.

"Some senior people said they would build up their body to live to the day when the Games is staged in Beijing," said Sun Sipeng, regional supervisor of Gallup China

Sun was most impressed by a blind man who will "watch" television or listen to radio if the Olympic flame is ignited in Beijing.

"The man said he felt great regret for being unable to watch with his eyes. But if the Games comes to Beijing, he will stick to the screen or radio every day, to keep track of what happens to the Games until the curtain falls," Sun said.

The poll has not only gathered the percentages in terms of people's support to Beijing's bidding, but also collected a lot of proposals to the campaign.

An urban resident said that Beijing should keep its cultural characteristics instead of copying developed countries by splashing out on infrastructure.

A farmer suggested their village could become the Olympic Village for athletes to experience Chinese rural livelihood.

Among those who oppose the bid, some are concerned Beijing still has not had enough strengths to host the Games or think it should place the problem of unemployment above the Olympic bidding.

"Only 3% of those questioned oppose. The percentage is much smaller than those in other candidate cities," said Sun.

The popular support is inspiring to the bidding team, which is awaiting the inspection of the International Olympic Committee's evaluation commission.

"The IOC will start their inspection tour with Beijing from Wednesday. With so much support behind us, I feel relaxed and confident," said Liu Qi, Beijing Mayor and President of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee.

"We must do our best to win the bid, for this is the aspiration of Beijing residents, the aspiration of Chinese people."






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